The Prophesy of Two Heroes book one: Spreading Darkness
by JESUSSAYSNO
Summary: <html><head></head>Link, a cunning yet unremarkable young farmhand, was turned into a creature with blood black as night as the darkness creeping across the land touched him. Unable and unwilling to return to his old life due to his affliction, he finds a common enemy in an exile, Midna. Together, the two start an unrelenting quest to vanquish Zant, the one behind their suffering. Expanded TP AU.</html>


Hello everybody, it's your favorite inconsistent writer coming at you for another attempt at writing something decent.

In this one, Link doesn't have the Triforce of Courage, but is cursed with dark magics of origins unknown. Another character will have the Triforce and will be a major player in events to come. I won't give a whole lot of information on him right now, but while he holds a large role in the story, he won't be a main character. I might make a side story dedicated to the Triforce bearer in the future depending on how this goes.

* * *

><p>The Prophecy of Two Heroes says that when evil spreads across the land, two champions will rise, one in blood, the other in righteousness. One will follow the path of Freedom, the other Justice. As evil falls, as does a hero. The two will finally clash, one surviving, one to parish.<p>

* * *

><p>Throbbing. It was everywhere. In my head, my muscles, it was consuming me. And it felt wrong. Like the sickening feeling in the middle of your gut when you know something horrible had happened. I wanted it to stop. It was invading, like the irrational idea of having every last secret and precious thing slowly peeled away from me, leaving a defiled feeling in its wake.<p>

And in waves, it started to subside, the profane and disgusting feeling congealing at the ends of my limbs, threading it's way through my veins. I couldn't move. I would, I wanted to. But I couldn't. It gripped me, gagged me, retrained me to it's violations. The invisible mass of darkness, I realized with a primal fright, wasn't leaving through my fingertips, it was solidifying inside of me, not just in my limbs, but my entire body. It was positively disgusting, and I wanted it out.

Fingertips moved. But it was wrong. Darkness clung to every movement, twisting inside me, clinging to sinew and bone. It was inside of me. And it was there to stay.

I couldn't struggle, and the throbbing sped up. Limbs were consumed, scalp tingled, my eyes ached.

After ages, the throbbing stopped. The swirling stopped. It was cold. Very cold. Inside and outside of my body, filled with vial taint. Internally, I felt icy. Never had I been so cold, it was unnerving that I wasn't quivering and shaking. Outside, the feeling of rough stone brushed against my cheek and limbs.

I wasn't sure if I should be more unnerved by how absolutely awful I felt, or what I saw when I opened my eyes. I was simply unnerved by everything. Senses going insane, all coming back to life after being dormant for so long.

The rancid scent of shit hit my nose like a hammer.

White light assaulted my vision.

Bile rose to my mouth, burning bitter as it came. It was too much. My body wouldn't listen to my pleas.

Heave after heave wracked my form, expelling everything from my stomach onto the stone floor.

I avoided the mess of partially digested food and bile with my eyes and started breathing through my mouth. I could still taste the scents, but it wasn't nearly as bad.

Everything was too bright. It was dark, stone walls surrounded me on three sides, and metal bars on the last side. It was a cell, and I was stuck in it. There was no light source, but it was still too bright.

Panic rose, and I wracked my memory for answers. Falling through a barrier, no being pulled through, then a flood of darkness. That was it. Ilia was in danger, and I stupidly rushed in.

A single chain bound me to the ground by the ankle, spikes digging into my flesh from the shackle. I hadn't even noticed it, but was drawing blood. The icy feeling of whatever sick darkness clung to the area closely.

The iron shackle needed to go if I wanted to get out. And it did. The black blood slowly oozing from the wound seemed to be dissolving the iron. It started bubbling, and surprise caused me to jerk back. The decaying spikes dug deeper into the unfeeling wound, pouring more of the sick imitation of blood onto itself. It eroded even faster, and when I was sure there would be no resistance, I wrapped my hands around the iron and pulled. It snapped with little resistance.

Looking down at the wound, I was shocked to see the black blood crawl back into the abscess, drop by drop, before they sealed themselves It was simply unnatural. Any on my hands seeped back in through my palms with nothing but a light tingle.

What is this? Why is this happening?

Staggering to my feet, I moved to the bars. Each step seemed to push the solidified darkness around in my feet, every last bit of tissue was saturated in it, and I could feel it all.

A deep snarl erupted from somewhere outside the cell, and my body jerked, the darkness along with it, sending another wave of nausea through me.

Chains shook, metallic clanging echoing, a chained beast?

A small figure floated the cell door, feet above the floor. It was small, almost inhuman, with a large protruding headpiece. I held still. What is it? A jailer?

It passed, letting out a giggle. It was almost childish, but it echoed in on itself. The blackness inside of me seemed to form needles inside of me at her approach. Every last nerve was on edge.

The beast growled, and the creature started speaking to it.

"Growling at little old me?" The creature's voice was feminine, to an extent. It echoed to a lesser extent than her laugh, but it was unnerving regardless. "That's no way to treat your ticket out," Smugness radiated from her tone. "Humans, so predictable, but wait, you're not a human anymore,"

I gripped the bars of the cell. What was she doing here? An imp, magical. Where is here? Why is it talking to some beast?

The blackness pulled back for a moment, before throbbing. It jarred my thoughts, sending my head swimming. My weight fell upon the bars of the door with a clang.

"My my, what's this?" The tone snarked. It was directly in front of me. The darkness called forward to the creature, it wanted the little imp.

"What are you?" It wasn't my voice. My voice didn't echo in on itself ever so slightly like the sound I made did. There was no time to question though.

"I am merely me, but the real question here," she floated forwards, and I backed off. There was a buzz in the blackness inside of me, it was agitated, it didn't like what she was doing. The bars didn't hinder the imp, and she merely floated through the bars, skin rippling as if water. "Is what are you," A broad fanged smirk crossed her tiny face, the one revealed eye lidded in amusement.

"Hylian," I wasn't absolutely sure at this point, but it didn't matter. The darkness was on edge, and it didn't like the imp.

"Oh, is that so?" The fanged smirk broadened. She knew something I didn't. Answers were what I needed.

"You know something," It wasn't a question, it was a demand.

"By my blood, I can't seem to remember," The small creature yawned loudly, stretching widely, arms raised. She was vulnerable in that position. The darkness wanted answers. My vision saw red.

I moved, like lightning. Hands like talons looking for prey. Flesh caught for a moment, no, not even a moment, just a flash, before the resistance was gone.

She was back through the bars, four bleeding gashes on her shoulder. A dark liquid covered my hands. The darkness wanted it, and tried to push through the skin to obtain the liquid. Bringing my fingers to my face, I saw red tipped claws.

The last segment of each finger was elongated and sharp, the nail tapering to the point of a needle. Blood dripped from the claws.

I was shocked and confused. The darkness wanted the blood inside of it, to consume it, but the claws. They made me question my humanity. I raised a claw to my mouth and my tongue darted out to reach it. As a rule, blood shouldn't taste heavenly. But it did.

"Do you get it now?" The imp seethed, nursing the four gashes. "Stupid vampires," with a huff, the creature darted out of sight.

Vampire? Is that what I was doomed to be? A cursed follower of Demise, doomed to sleep in the earth by day, and rise to feast upon the innocent by night? No, it was impossible. I didn't believe it.

The imp started talking more to the beast, but I was lost to the world. The rest of the claws were licked clean and the darkness wanted more. I wanted more.

A crackling noise sent a shiver through my scalp. Magic. There was a showmage that visited Ordon often. Sparks, bouts of flame, smoke, lightning. The imp was using magic, but I couldn't just hear it, I could feel it. A chain, magic saturated a chain. And it pulled it apart with an echoing ring.

A bark was let loose. Was the beast a canine? A dog or wolf? Something bigger?

"Now, little vampire," Behind me. I turned and there she was, leaning against the wall. "I can use you as well," The canine was making a ruckus from it's portion of the dungeon.

"What?" Ungracefully, the words fell. The darkness still wanted her blood. Even more after tasting it. I was having trouble thinking. It wanted her. More than just wanted, it needed.

"How about this," The ever present shit eating grin stuck like glue. "I'll let you out, and you help me get what I want," My eyes narrowed. The darkness throbbed for blood.

"Why should I trust you?" The echo was there, the darkness twisting my words.

"Who's to say really. Now do you want to get out or not?" I did. But I wanted answers.

"Where am I?" To the imp, it must have been a joke, decayed she started giggling, a high pitched cackle.

"You'll have to see, little vampire," her tiny palms reached behind her head and she leaned back, lounging mid air.

She was infuriating, but the darkness wanted blood and I wanted out. "Fine, I'll owe you, get me out,"

Her grin split her tiny childish face. Magic built in her palms, black lighting with flashes of orange. The darkness hissed in the back of my mind. This creature was powerful. It's magic would tear the darkness apart.

Wrought iron bars flashed in a bout of magic, the black lightning chaining between them, making a box. The imp's features twisted in concentration and her magic spiked. The bars twisted and cracked where the magic contacted them, each one falling one by one, leaving just enough room for me to step through.

"Now don't eat me, you won't get anywhere without my help," The darkness wanted her blood, but it seemed to understand her power, I wouldn't attack her.

I turned my body to step through the bars, watching my step. The iron bars didn't catch on what was left of my clothing. It didn't escape me that each of my toes were talloned and clawlike.

My breath caught when I looked up to see a massive white wolf standing along with me in the cell block. It was the canine. The imp wanted it alive.

"Get along, you two, and I'll show you both the way out," The imp looked beyond smug.

My eyes were locked on the wolf's. Golden, almost glowing, but there were intelligent. Something pulsed in it, and I could feel it. A steady thumping, thick and deep. A heartbeat. But there was more, something that felt like fire, molten fire. It was centered around the beast's left paw, where a patch of discolored fur sat. Three triangles, stacked, one pouring out the burning energy.

The creature stood there, not hostile, but unnerving none the less. Too much was going on, and I was still left in the dark.

"What is this, imp?" The creature's grin widened even more.

"Well I can't just let one beast rot while another runs free,"

"I'm not a damn beast!" The darkness rose to anger as I did, pooling in my stomach, burning.

I was ignored, adding fuel to the fire. "And you two should get along, I'm your only hope out of here,"

I knew she was right, but that didn't mean I had to like it. "Fine, witch, where are we going?" Settling my anger for the time being, I looked around. Dark stone, and a doorway.

"No, not there, they're swarming out there," She snapped out. "There's another way up,"

I caught the word 'up'. Her destination was above us. "Where?" A tiny hand pointed to a small opening in the wall opposing the door. It was small. The wolf, who had started pacing quietly, would fit through, but I wouldn't. My shoulders wouldn't get through. "How am I supposed to fit through there?"

"I dunno, you're a vampire, become a beast,"

"How?" If I could become something else, I wanted to know it. If I was escaping a prison sentence, I would be fighting against whatever captured me. The potential for any trick or power was intoxicating.

"I'm not a vampire, I wouldn't know. Maybe... Try thinking of the form you want, and work your mana," Mana, the lifeblood of magic. An internal force that some held that allowed amazing feats, from creating sparks to ending thousands of lives in a snap. "Yours is black, I can feel it,"

The darkness. Is it my mana? I thought about the wolf, and experimentally tugged on the darkness. It tugged back, and I fell forward. My vision blackened. The darkness ripped into my flesh, warping it, leaving cold tingles.

My eyes opened and I was on four legs. Sleek, short pitch black fur covered muscular canine legs. Paws with wicked black claws, too long to be natural. A feral growl hit my ears. A vibration in my throat.

The noise came from me. I was a black canine. From what I could see, my muzzle was too blunt to be a wolf. Some kind of dog likely. At this point, it wasn't even a shock.

I tried to step forward, only to topple.

The imp's giggle snapped me out of it. I couldn't speak, with words at least. Another terrifying growl escaped my maw. "Looks like puppy needs to learn how to walk,"

I caught on quickly, and started taking steps forward. Timing and different muscles were all different. But the darkness helped, clinging to muscles that needed to be used.

I focused in on my human form and pulled again, and I was on two feet. The same contraction, ripping, and rearranging happened. This was new. A sort of accomplished feeling flooded through me, but it was overshadowed by the reality of it. I was something not normal. A vampire.

"Alright, teeth, you can get through now, let's go, we don't have all day, chop chop!" My thoughts were interrupted by the clapping accenting the last two words, and I gave the darkness another tug, shifting onto four feet.

The wolf pushed past me, long fur brushing against my shorter fur, leaving unnaturally warm tingles in it's wake.

I turned to the imp, to find her gone. Damned black magic. The golden wolf pushed into the small hole, and kept going. I followed behind, the beast's tail swatting my canine face often until I backed off. The small passage was tight, but it wasn't long, I could see the end from the start.

A scent hit me. Food. Warm, appetizing. It was surrounded by many less pleasant scents, but this one rose above them all. The darkness welled in my mouth, and pushed for the scent.

It was blood. A human maybe. And I wanted it. A growl escaped my maw, and I pushed forward, up against the other beast's legs. It snarled, but sped up, not enough room to turn around and snap at me.

It was out, paws and long fur dragging across the ground as I struggled to escape the small passage. Food.

A man sat leaning on his spear, the only thing keeping him upright. A guard. Royal. High quality armor, plate and chain, emblazoned with the Hylian crest. He was muttering to himself.

I pulled myself off of four legs, and trudged forward. He was food, his armor paper, his weapon nothing more than a stick.

A surge of magic came from behind me, and the imp started shouting. The wolf stayed steady. The guard turned, but I was already upon him.

The darkness led, and my hand shot out, long digits covering the human's plate helmet and pulling. A gobsmacked expression say upon the guard's face. He looked tired, dark bags under his eyes, wrinkles beyond his age. My other arm shot out to his neck, tearing down the chain and catching on a plate. Skin broke and the most wonderful scent hit the air. Darkness pooled in my mouth and teeth, lengthening, sharpening.

Panic gripped the guard, and he finally started to struggle. His spear dropped, and he raised his arm to push the offending force away. I hissed, bearing all of my teeth, a feral action. There was no self control.

The plate didn't come off, so I wrapped around to his back and grabbed, nails piercing the backplate and pulling. The straps couldn't hold, and they tore, ripping as they did so, leaving the man in his chain shirt.

A fist soared across my vision, and I saw dark, a numb feeling coming across my jaw, spreading from the right side of my face. Darkness surged, and I surged forward with it, teeth digging into the man's exposed neck. His flesh was like butter, no match for teeth sharpened by darkness. A scream was loosed, before I dug deeper, piercing something harder. It stopped.

Blood flooded my mouth. It was sweeter than anything I had ever tasted. Warm and full, heady and thick. My tongue darted out to the wounds, tasting raw flesh. It was delicious. Gulp after gulp flooded down my throat, creating a dizzying high as the darkness seemed to glow inside of me.

But as soon as the blood stopped, I could think again. Startled by my actions, I shoved the dead man aside. His flesh caught on my teeth, tearing a small chunk off. I bit down on instinct before spitting it out violently.

I turned to face the two creatures I was with. Strangely, the wolf looked aghast. The imp's head was turned down and a grim expressions at upon her face. On seeing me turn, her exposed amber eye looked up to meet mine. "He was innocent you know,"

Guilt hit me. "He would have starved or been hunted down on his own, but with help he could have made it out alive," I didn't have words. I just stared at the creature. The darkness thrummed happily inside of me, making me sick at the thought of it's pleasure. The imp's head raised, never breaking eye contact. "Don't let his death be in vain, take his armor and weapon,"

Numbly, I nodded. This was a sewer system. Abandoned by the looks of it. Nobody would find the body. And I had the feeling I couldn't drag him out.

Blood seemed to be almost absent, my mouth and the darkness sucking it all in before it could fall. The corpse was pale as a sheet, completely bloodless. The man was of a similar build as I was. Medium built, muscular from training and work. The breastplate and backplate were split apart, leather straps broken, but the rest of the armor was intact. And on a corpse.

In that moment, I wished I could turn to anything for support. But nothing came. The darkness thrummed in it's gorged state, and the two beings behind me held me accountable.

I tried not to look at the face as I began stripping the corpse. Armplates, gauntlets, chain shirt, plate belt, leg plates, and boots. Each piece taken from a still warm corpse.

With a heavy heart, I started placing each piece on my body. The sleeved chain shirt came over my head, the fine steel links clinking lightly as they fell over my bloodied white shirt. Then came the legplates, strapped over the tattered tan trousers that sat upon my legs. The belt rested on my hip bones, draping plates to cover the groin and upper legs.

The tugs of the straps jostled the darkness as I tightened them, and the heartbeats of my two silent watchers thundered in my ears. I could feel the disapproval rolling off of them without turning my head.

Lastly came the armplates, gloves, and boots. The gloves proved to show a problem, before solving itself quickly. Claws poked into the end of the fingers before the leather completely encase my hand. With a pull, my nails pierced the leather and stuck out, leaving a snug fit on the rest of my hand. I repeated the process on the other hand.

The boots didn't need to receive the same treatment, as the talons on my toes weren't long enough or hard enough to pierce the steel toes of the plate treads.

"Is there any way you can fix the breastplate?" The imp asked. A pang of annoyance shot through me. Insensitive.

"The straps are broken,"

Luckily, the sarcasm in the imp did not rear it's ugly head. I didn't need or want it now. "Tear strips from your pants to hold it together, they're useless now anyway. Until you can get actual straps, those will have to do,"

I sat against a stone wall and tore six strips from my left pant leg. "Could you fetch the chestpiece?" The wolf obliged, gripping the two plates in it's jaws and dragging them to my seated position.

Two of the bindings were intact, below the arms on the left side. There was still six more major points where the two plates needed to be tethered. Four on each side, two below the arms, two above. I sat forward, positioning the backplate and then sat back before swinging the chestplate forward.

The bonds were quickly tied and they held strong, the strips of thick fabric turning out to be a strong rope. Each motion nudged the darkness in my fingers, the fibers ran across it in a way I could not explain. The details and texture were projected through the darkness, far beyond what I could ever feel on my own. In that moment, I realized that the darkness wasn't something else, it was me.

"Get up and let's move, we don't have all day," I complied, numb and wanting to put this place behind me.

"Where are we going?" My voice was hollow and distant, made more so by the dark echo that seemed to come from all sounds. I cringed at the sound.

The imp floated forward. "Out. Follow the path, there's only one way up,"

I nodded.

The foul smells started returning as I refocused. The plate was light, but uncomfortable. Too tight, with each step making a reverberating clang.

The intense flavor of blood on my lips made focusing hard, but this place, it was completely saturated with something. It filled the air and stone, the foul waters. It was consuming and it interacted with each creature in our group differently. The wolf's fur burned it away and my darkness consumed it, but the imp had the strangest reaction. It had no reaction. The ambient energy flowed around the creature with no effect at all.

I didn't trust either the wolf or the imp. This darkness was unnerving to the extreme, but it was a part of me for the time being. It gave unknowable power that I needed to control.

As we walked along the sides of the passage, I drew on the darkness, remembering the black ichor that flowed from my body as I was wounded. Blood. It could survive outside of my body. I pushed it from inside my palm. Pressure built as the darkness flooded the area.

"Hey!" The imp shouted, breaking my focus. "Your kind's mana is bonded to your flesh and blood, if try to channel it without breaking the bond, you can only perform blood magic," her words sunk in. Manipulation of blood through mana. "Keep pouring all of your magic in your hand without a way out and it'll burst," I connected the dots quickly.

"Thank you, I didn't know,"

"Clearly. Don't do it again, I don't want you screaming in agony, we need to keep quiet here," the black and grey creature's expression and tone gave no room for argument.

I didn't grace her with a response and went back to practicing. I molded it in my veins with ease, it was soft and malleable under my control, but it was powerful, the shapes held if I created them.

A needle of blood formed in my left wrist, and with a flick of the darkness, it shot out of my arm, bringing a thread of ichor with it.

It froze, and I did too. It was solid and stiff, and with my last step, the thread tore through the skin of my arm and the gauntlet that kept it encased in metal. It didn't hurt. As if it was just being lightly pinched.

Most people might flinch or panic, but I was already numb. So I followed the logical choice and tore the gauntlet off the ruptured limb and tossed it aside. The sight was gruesome. Skin and flesh torn apart, split by the hard thread of black ichor floating in front of me. Black muscle fibres and tendons writhed and latched on to each other, pulling together again.

Physical pain, it seemed, didn't apply to my me anymore. Muted and dulled to the point where a near lethal laceration is nothing more than a light pinch.

I pushed the darkness from the wound, detaching the thread and balling it up in my palm. The black mass was easy to hold, small as a walnut but blacker than night. The darkness projected itself through the small nut sized ball, I could feel through it.

The two behind me stopped. The wolf might have smelled the ichor. "You injured yourself?" it was the imp.

"No, not badly," hearing my voice echo brought me back like a splash of cold water. I had killed a man for his blood and taken his possessions, I had no heartbeat, breathing was only habitual, and I was holding a ball of my own blood in my hands. I flinched, internally cringing at the enhanced feeling of the movement.

"Lets keep moving," There were a thousand more words I wish I could have said.

* * *

><p>There were rats, hundreds and hundreds of rats. Chittering and screeching at the wolf and imp. But they never got close. I threw the ball of ichor at a few, and they scattered. They feared my magic. To be a predator was unnerving. Hylians and humans were never feared by animals, especially in these masses. It made me uncomfortable, I had always been welcomed by people and local animals. The reaction of these rats though, from lack of socialization or my new form, made my skin crawl.<p>

After some time, our odd group came across a metal gate. No door, just a series of bars, floor to ceiling It stood blocking our path. "Damn it all!" The imp hissed, tone black with venom. "We need to get through here,"

A thought sprung into my head and I drew upon my mana again. A painless prick was felt in my wrist and ichor flowed free. I kept my hand steady as not to tear my skin with the hard and controlled flow. I severed the flow and the wound healed, blackness knitting together again. The floating stream joined with the ball, and I spread it all into a flat and sharp form, blunting a small portion of it. It was a crude blade, or that was the idea. I willed it to hold form and it fell with gravity, thumping on the ground.

If I could tear apart armor, I could shred this small barrier. With care, I picked up the double edged sword from the ground. It was light, composed entirely of black blood. It had taken a large amount to form it. I formed a basic cross guard and counterweight, shortening the blade. The end product was a thin saber like sword, the blade as long as a leg.

"That's a nice sword, but we need to get through here. What are you planning?" Over the short time I had interacted with the imp, it seemed like the only words she had spoken were anything but encouraging.

The blade twirled in my hand, perfectly balanced, a literal extension of myself. A swift stroke aimed high, enhanced by the darkness inside of me, cut a thin gap between the bars with ease. I shuddered, feeling every one give way before the darkness. Another swing sent low had the bars clattering down to the ground, piercing the silence and heartbeats.

"Come on, I want to get out of here," the imp huffed and floated through the hole. Her body was odd, a too large head sat upon a torso that couldn't fit her size, wide hips and breast development not seen in children. I relate her to a child due to her small size. It didn't look right.

Something was wrong with the picture. The darkness proved useful again, revealing her mana. A rich dark grey, swirled with a piercing blue green and oranges. It looked delicious, powerful. But it was constricted tightly by a swirling gold film that ate away at the beautiful liquid mana, draining it dry. Hardly more than a few drops were able to stay. "You're cursed," I murmured aloud. Her mana drank the dark ambient energy in, but the film repelled it. It felt the same as the wolf's fur. "It's the same as the wolf's magic," If it wasn't for the minimal ambient mana, she would be drained completely by the golden film.

I didn't notice her turn as I stared beyond her skin. "Enough, " that single word was spoken so flatly and simply, but held hundreds of implications.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have looked," I didn't mean it, but white lies flowed from my mouth like wine from the tap. The village children expected a saint, and that's what I gave them. I didn't mind, I liked the children and people of Ordon, it was worth it.

The being's oversized head shook. "Lets just keep moving,"

With nothing else to say, I stepped through the gap in the bars. Beyond them was a circular room with a staircase leading up farther than I could see. The fog of black mana clouded my vision. It was in the winding sewers, but it was never this thick. It was both empowering and blinding. My saber drank it in, hardening it further. It sated my bloodthirst.

"We go up from here. We'll be outside soon," The imp murmured. The wolf charged ahead and up the stairs, panting as it ran. It must have been tired of taking the back. It stopped half way up. i climbed the steep stairs with ease, cursing as I saw what made the animal stop. The spiraling staircase was blown. A twelve foot gap filled with nothing but mana infused air sat between the two edges.

"How do we get past?"

"Jump. You need to get used to the power of your new body," it was snarky, but it made sense. The darkness was deeply coiled inside of my muscles, the idea that it could let me jump that far wasn't unrealistic. "You too wolf boy,"

Coiling down, I tensed my legs. The darkness twisted and stretched, filling my legs with power. Seeing my goal, I leapt, muscle and darkness expanding in a flash, sending my body flying. The ledge approached and then passed. My eyes widened and a taloned hand shot down, catching the jagged stone staircase, digging into it. Momentum, however, disagreed. pulling me forward and up, tearing through the ancient stone. My gloved hand stopped my ascent though, and I collapsed, unwinded, unwounded, and completely unharmed, save patches of torn skin and flesh, repairing themselves rapidly.

"And the vampire shows his true grace," The nameless imp taunted as I righted myself and checked0 myself over. My second gauntlet was ruined, leather and metal torn to shreds, and the chest and leg plates were scuffed and scratched. The darkness made my body more durable than steel. I was fast and powerful enough to reduce it to shreds by pushing myself.

"I need better armor," The silence killed me. My heart should be pounding and my lungs should be starving right now. Words filled the silence. As did a slight breeze. I sniffed. Fresh air. We were close to a way out.

The wolf, surprising me greatly, caught my attention by jumping nimbly over the gap, just landing on all four paws with little trouble. This was no normal beast. A normal wolf, no matter how strong, wouldn't be able to leap the gap. I had my doubts, but this just confirmed it. The markings of the sacred Triforce and intelligence it's golden eyes held made me suspicious from the start. If I was right, this beast could be somehow a chosen of the Three Goddesses.

"Don't stop now, we're almost out," This little creature's suggestion, I figured, was a better idea than musing on the gods and goddesses. Religion wasn't part of my everyday life, but I always believed in something more. The gods manifested themselves in many ways, even if they don't affect day to day life. I must have gotten in the way of their grand design, cursed to live in the darkness.

"I smell fresh air, just up ahead," I murmured. The wolf bounded ahead, the pads of its feet making little sound against the hard stone.

The tower circled higher and higher until it opened up into a massive and musty room full of ancient and rusted arms and armor. Cobwebs lined the racks, some spilled across the floor. remains of rotting bedrolls lied across one side of the room. It was a long abandoned barracks. Off to one side was a practically destroyed door, waterlogged and rotting, standing only by some grace of the gods.

It was raining outside. Hard. More of a storm, accompanied by periodic lightning strikes and the echo of thunder. But it didn't feel cold. It should, but it didn't. Undeath must have solved that issue. I grimaced.

The others looked around, and the wolf wandered off to sniff at a weapons rack. "Rest for a few minutes if you need to, but lets get moving, there isn't far to go from here," her expression was tired. As if this endeavor was more work than she thought it would be. She turned off to examine fallen armor, an almost vacant look in her visible eye.

Standing didn't cause any pain or cramps anymore. I moved to a dry corner and leaned against a dry spot, closing everything else out. I was a criminal of unknown crimes, the murderer of a Hylian soldier, and was filled with a darkness that would leave me ridiculed and hated by any follower of the Three Golden Goddesses. What am I going to do?

My breathing started again and became rough. A panic attack was coming on, I could tell. A million thoughts of varying significance poured into my head at a dizzying pace. Ilia, where was she? She needs my help. Rusl, what about his tasks? He was getting older and needed help, and I can't provide it anymore. Ordon, I could never return. I could never touch a blessed spring again. I had no home. And that last thought tore me to pieces.

My eyes dilated and I let everything take it's course for a few minutes. Thoughts repeated countless times before I shut them down one by one with a single answer. Move forward. If I don't have a home, I'll make one. I'll save Ilia and leave her back at the village. I need to find out what's happening and survive.

Sighing, I pushed forward. Information is what I needed desperately if I wanted to survive. The imp had answers. Each step held purpose now. I had a goal in sight and I would achieve it. "Imp, we need to talk,"

The creature turned. "What's there to say?"

"I want to apologize for attacking you earlier," I paused, watching her closely for her response.

She looked down to the shallow scabbed over gashes on her stomach and back to me. "It's fine. What's done is done, control yourself in the future,"

"What about the future?" I pursued. "What do want in return for the jailbreak? I cannot return home, it would put myself and my friends at risk. If you need assistance with any task, I'll gladly give it," Each word was measured carefully as to show as little emotion as possible.

A red eyebrow raised. "And here I thought I would have to convince you to help me,"

"Well I don't need convincing. Tell me what you want." I knew I was taking a massive risk in giving myself away like this.

"There are three shards of twilit magic that I need. I heard they were all hidden by the four Spirits of Light ,"

"You might be searching for a while, the spirits are folk tales,"

"Well we'll be looking for a while then, won't we?"

"Yeah, suppose we will." A thought struck me. "What about the wolf?"

She shrugged. "He can help if he wants, I won't hold him," A sigh flowed through the cursed being's lips. "We'd best be moving," Her voice picked up, addressing both myself and the wolf over the din of the rain.

The soggy door was jammed. "Push it down, it'll lead to the rooftops. You'll know where we are when you do," I braced myself and kicked the door down with the flat of my boot. Cold wind and rain flew into my face.

This storm was powerful, hurricane winds and monsoon rain creating a thick fog. Golden skies sat between the thick storm clouds, sending dim light down from the heavens. But what sat within the fog and golden light made my breath catch. I stepped forward, onto cold wet stone of the castle'd battlements. There sat the tall spires of the capital; Hyrule Castle.

"Hyrule Castle in all its glory," The imp's flat voice was blunted by the storm. "We need to move forward, somebody is waiting for us," A small finger pointed in the direction of a shorter spire.

* * *

><p>Next Chapter: Zelda<p>

* * *

><p>How do you like it so far? Comments and reviews are appreciated.<p> 


End file.
